1. Technical Field
The invention is related to displaying windows on a computing device's display screen, and more particularly to a multiple-mode window presentation system and process that displays one or more of the peripheral graphic user interface (GUI) elements in a first appearance mode when a window is maximized and displays one or more of these peripheral GUI elements in a second appearance mode when the window is displayed in a less-than maximized size within the display screen. The second appearance mode is substantially different from the first appearance mode, and in preferred embodiments the second appearance mode is designed to attract the attention of a user, while the first appearance mode is design to avoid distracting the user's attention from the content of the window.
2. Background Art
A window is a viewing area presented on a computing device's display screen typically employed in a multitasking operating system that allows more than one of such viewing areas to be displayed on the screen at any one time as part of a graphical user interface (GUI). In essence windows are employed by a computer program to interface with the user. In this way the user can interact with any of the currently displayed windows, usually by placing the screen cursor over the window and selecting portions of it, such as an icon or button. One such interaction involves the user resizing a currently displayed window. For example, it can be stretched on any side, minimized, maximized, restored and closed. In regard to restoring a window, this generally refers to a resizing of the window to a smaller viewing area in response to a user entering a restore command (e.g., by selecting a restore button in the window) when the window is maximized in the display screen. This smaller size is typically the default size the window is displayed at when first opened. Thus, the term restore was coined in reference to restoring the window to its former size. The restore term has also come to generally refer to any less-than-maximized window size, regardless of if it has been first opened or downsized from its maximum size.
Typically, windows are rendered and managed by a rendering system (which can be a so-called “windows manger” program) as part of a “windowing system” such as Microsoft Corporation's Windows® operating system. A window manager is the computer program responsible for coordinating all the windows currently displayed on the screen. Specifically, a window manager program handles among other things how all of the windows created by various applications that share the screen are displayed. Thus it is the window manager that determines the size, position and stacking order for each window displayed on the screen. This is based on both the requirements of the computer program associated with the window and user inputs. It is also the job of the window manager to create a frame, including a title bar, around the displayed windows. The frame essentially defines the boundaries of the window on the screen. In general, this frame falls under the category of peripheral GUI elements displayed on the display screen of the computing device. The window manager program can further generate a task bar, which includes among other things indicator bars that identify the windows currently opened and available to the user. The task bar is typically displayed at the bottom of the display screen, although it is not unknown to display it elsewhere such as along one side of the screen. The task bar is another example of a peripheral GUI element.
A problem with current window manager programs is that the appearance of a maximized window is very similar to the same window when displayed in a default or restored size. For example, the only visible difference between the frame of a maximized window in most windowing systems and the frame of a restored window, is the glyph that appears in a minimize/restore button in the window's title bar. When the window is maximized, a restore glyph appears on the button, and when the window exhibits its restored size, a maximize glyph appears on the button. In the case of the task bar, there is often no difference in its appearance at all, regardless of whether a window is maximized or exhibits its restored size.
The similarity between the appearance of maximized and restored windows is a source of confusion and consternation for users. First, it is difficult for the user to readily differentiate between maximized and restored windows in those instances where the maximized size of a window does not fill the entire display screen. For example, a user may want to work with a window and have it as big as possible for this purpose. In current systems, the user would have to find the minimize/restore button in the window (if present) and identify which glyph is being displayed. As the button and glyphs can be quite small this can be an irksome task.
Secondly, when a user maximizes a window it is an indication that he or she wants to focus on the content of that window. Thus, extraneous objects displayed on the periphery of the window, such as in the frame and task bar may constitute a distraction that takes the users attention away from the content of the window. For example, the window frames and the task bar added by current window manager programs are often designed to be eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing. This may be fine when the user is not interested in concentrating on the content of a window. However, when a user does want to attend to a window, the window frame and task bar appearance can distract the user, all the more so in that they are designed to attract the user's attention. Thus, what may be desirable for a window when in the restored size, can become a distraction when the window is maximized. However, this is what happens with current window manager programs since the window frames and task bar appearances are not generally changed when the window is resized.